Preview: Banbury United (h)
Chester return to the Leap76 stadium this weekend and welcome Banbury United, who are now under the management of the newly appointed Kevin Wilson.
After collecting four useful points from two tricky away games, the Seals will be looking for their fourth consecutive clean sheet on Saturday afternoon.
Calum McIntyre’s men retained fourth spot in the National League North last weekend as they played out a goalless draw at The Walks, the home of King’s Lynn Town.
A 334-mile round trip to Norfolk resulted in a cagey affair and McIntyre will be hoping it’s a case of home comforts against Banbury United this weekend.
THE OPPOSITION
The visitors currently sit in 16th place in the National League North and come into Saturday’s game with momentum after a good run of form. They are searching for their third win in as many games after narrowly defeating third place Scarborough Athletic and 23rd place Darlington.
However, the Puritans have scored the third lowest amount of league goals this season, with 28 goals in 29 games. Only Farsley Celtic with 26 goals and Darlington with 22 goals have scored less.
Banbury emphatically earned promotion to the National League North by winning the Southern Premier Division Central back in the 2021/22 season with 102 points. The Oxfordshire based club finished in 17th last term, avoiding relegation by a slender five points.
THE GAFFER
It’s a new dawn at the Spencer Stadium, as the highly experienced Kevin Wilson was announced as the new manager on Tuesday. The 62-year-old has been tasked with the short-term goal of ensuring Banbury’s United’s safety this season.
It’s a romantic return for Wilson as he signed for Banbury as a 17-year-old before being sold to Derby County for £25,000, which is still a club record sale to this day. The striker had spells with Ipswich Town, Notts County and more notably Chelsea, netting 42 goals in 152 appearances during a five-year period at Stamford Bridge.
Wilson began his managerial career with Notts County and he won promotion to Division Two with the Magpies in the year 2000. Since then, he has managed a number of non-league clubs including Bedford Town, Aylesbury United, Kettering Town and Ilkeston Town.
The Northern Irishman, who won 42 caps with his country, has returned to football management after an eight-year hiatus with Wilson believing that the time was right to get back into the dugout.
ONE TO WATCH
Defender Charlie Waller has picked up the Man of the Match award in Banbury’s last two games with some eye-catching displays helping the Puritans to back-to-back victories.
The 18-year-old is on loan from League Two outfit MK Dons and has shown his quality recently. He was a part of the defence that fought well to record a clean sheet against third place Scarborough Athletic and then only three days later scored to double his team’s advantage to help them to an eventual 2-1 win over Darlington.
Waller joined Banbury United on loan at the end of November. He signed his first professional contract in June 2023 and has made two senior appearances for the Dons, with them both coming in the EFL Trophy.
LEAGUE FORM GUIDE
Chester FC l W14 D7 L9 l F36 A21 l Pos: 4th
Last Three
Bishop’s Stortford (H) l W 2-0 l Scorers: George Glendon, Christian Norton
Chorley (A) l W 2-0 l Scorers: Tom Peers (2)
King’s Lynn Town (A) l D 0-0 l Scorers: None
Banbury United l W10 D6 L13 l F28 A44 l Pos: 16th
Last Three
Gloucester City (H) l L 2-1 l Scorers: Emmanuel Maja
Scarborough Athletic (H) l W 1-0 l Scorers: Lawson D’Ath
Darlington (H) l W 2-1 l Scorers: Emmanuel Maja, Charlie Waller
Match preview by Jude Deedigan.
MATCH DETAILS
Kick off is 3pm on Saturday afternoon at the Leap76 Stadium. The postcode for the ground is CH1 4LT.
TICKETS
Do I need a ticket to attend the match?
– If you are attending in the East Stand or West Stand, or you are an away supporter – Yes.
In the above stands, matchday admission will not be available at turnstiles, meaning tickets will have to either be purchased online at chesterfc.ktckts.com or at the Ticket Office.
– If you are attending in the Harry McNally North Terrace – No.
This week, the operational capacity of the Deva Stadium has been increased to 4,361 with immediate effect following a mid-season meeting of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG).
This will enable the club to give fans the option to pay at the turnstiles (card/contactless payments) for the Harry McNally Terrace on Saturday, with the remaining stands to follow from the next home fixture.
At this stage, the stadium kiosks will not be reintroducing alcohol sales, however the club is exploring the introduction of a Fan Zone on matchdays, with a view to staging trial events in the near future.
Supporters are though still advised to purchase tickets in advance via the below link.
CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS!
MATCHDAY INFORMATION
WHAT’S ON
Here’s what is going on at the Leap76 Stadium as we host Banbury United…
HER GAME TOO FOCUS FIXTURE
This weekend is our Her Game Too focus fixture, as we welcome our women’s and girls’ sides to the Leap76 Stadium for our game against Banbury United.
Chester FC are very proud of the progression of our women’s and girls’ programme, which provides training and playing opportunities to almost 200 players.
This weekend, our teams will be present around the stadium, in our gazebo outside the ground prior to kick off, as well as being on the pitch at half time.
Football is a game for all.
THE CESTRIAN
The Cestrian bar opens from 12pm on Saturday showing all the live football on the big screens with a wide variety of drinks on offer.
Once again, it’s HAPPY HOUR between 12pm and 1pm tomorrow in the Cestrian – with all draught ales just £4 a pint on the main bar!
FOOD AND DRINK
We will have food available outside the ground prior to the game – as the footy scran recognised loaded fries are available inside the street food van!
Inside the ground there’s plenty of food and drinks to enjoy – with our kiosks serving the famous Cowards Pies and fantastic Hot Dogs.
GINGER CAT COFFEE
Ginger Cat Coffee will be serving their barista style hot drinks outside the ground before the game in their pop up tent, as well as Iced Coffees!
PROGRAMME
The Cestrian Programme will be available at the game, and the 40-page publication costs £2.50 at the ground.
Sales will also be available online: CLICK HERE
MATCH COVERAGE
- We will have full, FREE match commentary on Seals Live from 2.40pm on Saturday. Tune in by visiting our Match Centre: CLICK HERE
There is also updates from the ground on our social media channels throughout the day, including…
- Match Updates on our Twitter page. CLICK HERE
- HT/FT Updates on Facebook and Instagram. CLICK HERE
- A full time match report on ChesterFC.com. CLICK HERE
- A post match interview with Calum on Chester FC TV. CLICK HERE